Christmas Carol for the New Year.

On the internet I found the words for an odd Christmas carol. It was stated that it is sometimes sung on the Sunday after Christmas. It begins with these words:

There's snow on the mountain and ice on the pond, The Wise Men are home now in the back of beyond. The Shepherd's have left us; the heavens are dumb; There's no one to tell us why Jesus has come.

It ends:

But God's in His heaven, and Jesus has come to show every sinner he's welcome back home, To be this world's Saviour from hunger and fear, And give us new courage to face the New Year.

I hope that this Christmas season has helped you to have courage to face the New Year. One of the names given to Jesus was Immanuel which means God with us. He was with us during our Christmas celebrations and will be with us in 2012.

Yours in Christ,

David

Rev. David Smith

Spiritual Gifts

Today we are thinking together on the title "You Have A Spiritual Gift".  The Bible teaches that all of us as Christians have one or more spiritual gifts. Have you discovered your gift or gifts?  There are many different surveys to help individuals discover their gifts. I am suggesting one that deals with some of the gifts mentioned in the Bible.  You can find it at www.churchgrowth.org/analysis. Click to take the test as an individual.  It is free.  You may find that you have a gift that will help to build our team at Clapp's Chapel!

From the March Newsletter

This year Easter will be the latest most of us can remember. Easter is April 24 this year. The last time Easter was this late was in 1943 when it was on April 25 which is the latest date possible for Easter. This also means that Lent is starting later then most of us can remember. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday which will be March 9. Our special Ash Wednesday service will be at 7 PM.  We think of Lent as a time for personal examination. It is a time for us to seriously think about our spiritual lives. To help you, we will be offering a book of devotions for Lent entitled “We’ve a Story to Tell” which has been produced by the Society of St. Andrew. As you read the devotions, you may want to make a contribution to the Society of St. Andrew to help them provide food for those who are hungry in our country.

Let us make Lent a meaningful time as we look forward to our celebration of Easter.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. David Smith

Change for the Church in the New Year

We think of a new year as a time for change. However, we often discover that about the only thing that changes is our calendar. If we look closely, we will see that there are always some changes that take place at the beginning of a new year.  This year there will be the biggest change for the churches of the Holston Conference that I have ever experienced. We will no longer be given a Fair Share apportionment. In the place of our church being given a dollar amount to pay, we are expected to contribute a tithe or 10% of our income to the conference.  This can be a good thing for our church as we talk about giving a tithe. If we are doing it as a church, we should also be tithing as families and individuals. A focus on this biblical principle can help us all to grow spiritually this year.  During the first two months of the new year, I want us to focus on Barnabas who is one of the men of the New Testament.  His name means ‘son of encouragement’. Our morning messages will focus on his ministry of encouragement. I hope you will plan to attend on January 9 and the following Sundays as we think about his ministry and what it could mean for us as we enter into the new year.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. David Smith

December